The Ghosts of Embers
by thelastOpenDoor
Summary: Teacher warned them not to play in the church... now they were trapped in a burning red hell, and there was no way out. COMPLETE.
1. Raining Embers

"Joey!" I huffed, "Ricky! Wait for us!"

I heard them laughing and they kept on running, disappearing over the top of the hill.

Lulu tugged at my hand. "What're you doing?"

"I ain't letting the boys have all the fun again!"

"But you heard what teacher said! We're not supposed to play in the church!"

"Well, then, teacher won't know. So you better not tell."

She bit her lip, looking over her shoulder. "Oh, but… I don't…"

"You don't haveta come if you don't wanna. Just don't tell, okay?" I hiked up my skirts and darted after the boys, silently counting down.

_3...2...1..._

"_Oh! _Wait for me!"

I grinned. Lulu and I had been best friends for years, and she had always been predictable. I dashed on ahead.

It was cold this morning, the air biting my face and arms, and I half wished I didn't leave my jacket at the picnic. The other half was just happy to be _away_ from the picnic. See, I don't do well in crowds. Makes me feel all squished up inside myself. I'd rather explore.

I made it to the top of the hill, and when I looked around, my breath caught. You could see _everything_. The trees and prairies and winding roads, and way out in the distance, the city. It was beautiful.

Lulu came panting up beside me. "I told you to wait."

"I'm waiting now, ain't I?"

She rolled her eyes, then saw what I saw. "Wow," she breathed. "It's like standing on top of the world!"

"Yeah." I sighed. "C'mon, let's go find the boys."

We turned to stare at the church for a minute. It was small, and even from back here you could see what bad shape it was in. The paint was faded and chipping, the steps splintered, and there was a broken window.

Now I should let you know: for a girl, I'm pretty brave. In fact, I'm braver than most boys in the neighborhood. But something about this place gave me the heebie jeebies.

"Y-you gonna go in?" Lulu asked.

I nodded. "That's where Ricky and Joey went."

She glanced over her shoulder again. "You sure? 'Cause maybe they just --"

I cut her off. "They're in the church." I started forward, soon followed by a grumbling Lulu. As we got closer, you could see the spider webs draped across the windows like curtains and the footprints on the dusty floor.

And most of them were too big to be Ricky or Joey's.

Lulu whimpered. I turned and gave her what I hoped was a reassuring smile, then we both ducked inside.

The first thing I noticed was this place smelled bad. Like dirt, sweaty feet, and baloney. And cigarette smoke.

The second thing I noticed was someone was living here. There were crates filled with food, a deck of cards spread out in a solitaire game on one of the pews, piles and piles of used cigarettes, candy wrappers, and a copy of _Gone With The Wind_.

Huh.

"Aw, man!" Ricky appeared from behind one of the pews, which he immediately kicked angrily. "What're you doing here?"

"We don't need no sissy girls here." Joey called from the front.

"I'm no sissy." I said, hands on my hips.

"Oh yeah?" Ricky walked up in front of me, pulling a gun from behind him. Lulu shrieked and hid behind me.

"Put that away, Ricky."

"I'll shoot ya if you don't git outta here."

"No you won't."

"Won't I?"

"I know you, and you ain't that stupid."

He laughed, dropping the gun back on the pew. "I don't even why they'd have a gun in the church for anyway."

"They haven't had a service here in years. There's someone living here."

"Where do you think they went?" Joey came up the center isle to join us. "They left all their stuff."

"Maybe they went out to lunch." Lulu suggested, peeking around my elbow.

"Lunch?!" The boys roared with laughter. "Lulu, you're a riot."

"What?" she came around to my side, sounding offended. "It's possible."

"Whatever." Ricky wandered over to the crates and picked up the book. "_Gone With The Wind_? What's this dumb book doing here?"

"It's not a dumb book." I protested.

"Yeah? How would you know?"

I shrugged. "Why would someone tough enough to carry around a gun be bringing that book with them? There's probably a lot of fighting and stuff in it."

Ricky grunted something unintelligible, throwing it aside. He continued to snoop around the crates for something more interesting.

The truth was my momma read that book to me every night to help me get to sleep, but I wasn't about to tell him that. I'd never hear the end of it.

"Why d'you think they're here?" Joey asked.

"Maybe they didn't have anywhere else to go." Lulu said.

"Yeah, but why? Were they running away from home? From the cops?"

"How am I supposed to know?!"

"Well don't get your panties up in a bunch. I'm just thinking out loud."

"Hey, look at this!" Ricky shouted. He held up a little brown metal tube. He flicked a switch and a little flame shot up. "I found a lighter!"

"Oh, be careful!" Lulu pleaded, hiding behind me again. "You'll burn yourself!" When Lulu was little she'd had a whole pot of hot coffee spilled on her, so she was afraid of anything hot.

The boys just ignored her. "Cool!" Joey shouted, walking over to him. "Lemme see!"

"No!" Ricky jerked the flame out of the way.

"Lemme see!" Joey said again, reaching for it.

I could feel a wrestling match coming on. "Guys, don't, you'll --"

I watched, horrified, as the flame fell out of Ricky's hand and onto the floor. We all stared at it for a second, waiting for it to go out.

It didn't. The flames just sort of spread around the lighter.

Ricky wheeled on Joey. "You idiot! You made me drop it!"

"So?" Joey shoved him back. "Pick it up!"

"No, you pick it up, you little --"

I groaned. "Somebody pick it up!"

Joey sighed, reaching down. He grabbed the lighter, then threw it as he was standing up, wincing. "OW! Dang it, that's hot!"

"Duh, it's medal." Ricky shook his head. "Stupid."

"Hey, if you hadn't dropped it --"

"Well, if you hadn't tried to grab it --"

"Guys --" I tried.

"Oh, so this is my fault? You're the one playing with the lighter in the first place!"

"I wasn't playing! I was looking!"

"Guys --"

"Really? 'Cause it sure looked like playing to me."

"Well maybe you should get your eyes checked."

"_Guys_!" I shouted. They looked up at me, a little surprised. "It doesn't matter!"

Ricky shrugged. "Eh. It ain't worth my time anyway."

Joey plopped down on a pew. "Wasn't my fault," he mumbled. He sniffed. "Wait… do you smell smoke?"

Ricky sniffed too, nodding. "Yeah. And it's getting a little warm in here.

Lulu squeaked quietly, tugging at my sleeve. I turned to her, and she pointed toward the door, where the lighter had landed.

Fire had completely consumed the doorframe, creeping along the ceiling and walls faster than I ever thought possible. In just seconds the entire wall was on fire.

"Oh my gosh," I breathed.

Joey swore. "_Run_!"

Our whole group dashed toward the front, looking for another way out. The fire crackled and popped, sending embers flying. As we ran I watched the wood blacken and buckle beneath the flames, then collapse in piles of ash. I felt the heat coming from all around us. I never thought fire could spread so fast, especially in a holy place.

Yet here we were, running through the house of God, consumed by Hell's fire.

Ricky stopped short, and we all ran into him. "The altar!" He shouted.

That's when I realized: this may be an old church, but it was still a church, and there were probably a lot of oils and incense still here. And was right, because right then the wooden altar exploded with a loud _bang! _sending shards of flaming wood everywhere, and sweet smelling flames belched out.

Lulu screamed.

Without really saying anything we all turned and ran toward the back. We looked for another door, but not very hard because we were trying to avoid the flames. Something told me we wouldn't get out of here, and that… didn't scare me. I don't really know why, but I just felt… nothing. I didn't feel anything except hot and itchy, and I was coughing from all the smoke, but golly, I should be terrified.

The fire had reached the floor now, burning up the pews. Suddenly we weren't only surrounded by it, but were trapped in a maze of it. I stumbled away, trying to put out the flames that charred my skirt and lead our group through a door that I thought was an exit, but turned out to be a very tiny back room. Oh well. At least it wasn't on fire yet. We all huddled together, coughing and trying to get our breath back.

"Oh man, oh man, oh man!" Ricky was rocking back and forth, eyes wild. "Oh man, we'll never get out of here! We're gonna die!"

"Calm down, Ricky. We'll be fine." I lied between coughs, but I don't think anyone heard me over the roar of the flames outside.

"We're trapped! Trapped like rats!"

Lulu was in hysterics, sobbing into my shoulder. I was angry at myself for not making her turn around. I knew she didn't want to come anyway, but she trailed me like a puppy unless I directly told her to go back. And now she was trapped in this burning red hell like the rest of us.

I heard a loud crash, like glass shattering, but I didn't dwell on it. The fire had probably just burned down the whole wall and broke the window…

I held Lulu close to me, trying to calm her down, mostly because I didn't know what else to do. My eyes stung from the smoke. Ricky went on babbling about something or other, and Joey was just staring, like he was trying to comprehend what just happened.

Then the door swung open, and two black shapes entered. I couldn't make out their faces, since their backs were to the flames, let me tell you: right then they looked pretty freaky. Like devils come to drag us to our deaths.

Ricky lost it then. He started screaming unintelligibly, waking Joey out of his trance and making Lulu bury her face deeper into my sleeve.

"Shut up!" one of them yelled, "We're goin' to get you out!"

Ricky froze, a little surprised. I was too.

The fire was following them in, reaching toward us eagerly. The first dark shape turned and broke the window on the side wall, then bent down, scooped up Ricky, and tossed him out. When he turned back, I could see his face. He was dark skinned and dark haired, His face streaked with sweat and burns. He had huge back eyes that flashed like embers. He shot a grin at the other boy, and I knew he wasn't scared, either.

The second boy, still in shadows, reached for and startled Joey, who still wasn't paying much attention. He bit his hands, but he just lifted him up and tossed him after Ricky, a little more gently than the other had. The first came back over and took Lulu, who whimpered quietly at being pulled away from me.

I heard someone hollering from out side, something about the roof caving in. And, as if on cue, chunks of the ceiling started raining down on us.

The second boy, a blonde with pretty green eyes, picked me up and took me to the window. I took a breath to tell him his back was on fire, but all I ended up doing was coughing. He was coughing, too, so hard he shook me. He threw me out the window, and hit the grass hard, knocking the rest of my breath away. I heard hard footsteps, and managed to roll out of the way before a huge towheaded guy stomped on me. I watched him run up to the window as the blonde leapt out, gasping and coughing. The roof sagged and fell in on itself, and there was a blood curdling scream.

All I could think was, oh God, no. Please don't let that boy be hurt. That should have been me in there, me and Ricky and Joey and Lulu. Please don't let him be hurt.

The blonde turned to go back, a streak of orange light. The towhead swore at him and slapped at the fire, and I guess he hit him pretty hard because that boy dropped like a rock.

The towhead looked a little stunned, then he ran to the window, screaming, "Dammit, Johnny!" He reached his arm in, wincing, searching for the other boy. It took him a few seconds, but soon enough he was dragging him through the fire and the glass. He was burned real bad, and he looked like he was in a ton of pain. Then he paled and passed out in the bigger boy's arms.

The next thing I knew, I was being scooped up into teacher's arms. "Oh, thank God, you're alright!" she sobbed, "I told you not to play in the church… I told you…"

I pulled away from her to look back. The boys were getting carried off on stretchers, and I said a little prayer for them to be okay.

But, watching the house of God fall under fire like that, it was a little hard to believe anyone was listening.


	2. Dreaming of Embers

It took a while for me to convince Teacher, Mr. Jerry, and all the other kids that I was fine. There were at least seven voices all trying to get through to me at once. Tons of "Are you okay?"-s and "Did you get burned?"-s and "What happened?"-s. Teacher had called my mom, along with Lulu's and Joey's and Ricky's parents, and they were waiting for us back at school. I could imagine my mother right now; her whole face blotchy and tear streaked, swollen grey eyes, blonde hair practically exploding out of her head with worry, screaming, "Oh, my poor _baby_!"

Ugh.

After a good ten minutes or so on the bus, they left me and Lulu alone. She was curled up and asleep, using my shoulder as a pillow. I didn't mind. She had always been like a little sister to me.

I sighed and watched they prairie slip past. I couldn't stop thinking about those boys. They sure had some guts. A lot more guts than I did, and like I said before, I'm pretty brave. What made them like that? What were their own lives like? What fate brought them to us when we needed them?

I at least wanted to know their names.

And I really did want to see them again. Make sure they're alright, ask if they needed anything… but mostly I wanted to thank them. They didn't have to do that. They didn't even know us. And I know I couldn't help it, but still, I felt really guilty about it for some reason.

The sun peeked out from behind a cloud, burning my eyes. I stared at it until it turned white, watching the patterns the light threw out. I do that sometimes. I know it's not good for your eyes, but I'm careful enough. I just thanked my lucky stars that I was able to live long enough to see it again.

I hoped those boys were just as lucky.

-0-0-0-

It took me a minute, through the white noise of chatting kids, that the bus had stopped. I shook Lulu gently, who muttered in her sleep.

"Lulu, come on, baby, we're here."

She opened one emerald eye. "Where?"

"Back at school."

She closed it again. "I don't wanna go."

"Honey, your parents are here waiting for you. They'll take you home, okay?"

She sighed, then slowly got up. "Okay."

We got up, and I felt like Moses, with all the kids jumping out of my way to let us through first. It was weird.

As soon as I stepped off the bus, I was blinded by a head of crazy blonde hair. "Oh, my poor baby!" Mom shouted, bursting into another fit of tears.

See, what did I tell you?

"Ma, ma calm down." I patted her back, and that was about all I could manage since she was squeezing the living daylights out of me.

She went on like I hadn't spoken while all the kids came off the bus, staring as the walked by or actually stopping to watch. "You had me worried sick! Oh, I got that phone call and I thought you were dead! Oh--"

"Ma!" I tried to pull away. "Stop, you're embarrassing me!"

She looked a little hurt, but I didn't care. She was happy I was alive, that should be enough. I turned to say something to Lulu, but she was tangled in her parents arms, who were sobbing over her harder than my mom, and that's saying something.

Ma took my hand and she lead me to our old Chevy. I was glad to be going home. I don't think I could even concentrate on anything in school, what with the boys' faces constantly appearing in my mind.

-0-0-0-

_It was dark, so dark I couldn't see my hand in front of my own face. I whirled around, searching for an exit. Where was Lulu? I couldn't bare to lose her…_

_Suddenly there was a spark, and I was looking down at a ring of fire. There were the boys from before, the boys who saved me, surrounded by flames. I tried to reach down to them, to help them, but I couldn't reach. I watched them burn, screaming as they were consumed by the flames…_

I woke up shaking and sweating, fighting tears. Why couldn't I get them out of my head?

I decided I'd visit them in the hospital. I'd wanted to thank them anyway, and may be talking to them would get them out of my thoughts every moment.

I couldn't get back to sleep after that.

**Sorry this one's short… I plan to do another chapter, maybe one more, and those will be much longer. **

**Please review, hope you like it so far! :D**


	3. Returning to Embers

"Them boys were in the news this morning." Joey said, kicking a rock. "The boys who saved us."

We were walking by the lake. The principal called and said it was okay if we stayed home from school today, "Under the circumstances". I didn't mind. I knew we'd just be surrounded by more kids wanting to know what happened.

"Yeah, Dad said." Lulu added, "Said they should be okay."

"Really?" I felt a little spark of hope.

"Yup. Except their criminals."

"What?!" That was Ricky. He hadn't said much; I think he was still a little shaken up. "Why would _criminals_ save us?"

"Dunno. Doesn't really matter now, though, does it?"

"Wha'd they do?" Joey asked.

"Paper said they killed somebody."

"No way!"

"Yup."

My mind spun. The boys I saw, the look in their eyes… they couldn't have killed somebody. Lulu just didn't get the whole story.

We were all quiet for a minute or two, thinking, then I told them what I decided last night. "I'm gonna visit them."

"What? Why?" Lulu spun around, walking backward so she could look at me while she was talking.

"Why not?" I didn't want to tell her about my dream, about feeling so guilty about them. Usually I would but… I don't know. Maybe it was because Ricky and Joey were there. Maybe I felt like I couldn't tell anyone, not even her. "They deserve a thank you, at least."

"Well, send them a letter or something."

"You can't do that! This sort of thing has to be done in person."

"Says who?"

"Lulu, what's wrong with me going to visit them in the hospital?"

She sighed. "They're criminals."

"They saved us. Besides, we don't know the whole story. It was probably an accident."

"You don't know that."

"Well, I'm going to find out. Today."

-0-0-0-

Ma didn't want me to go either. At first she said she didn't want to drive me all the way up there just for a quick thank you, then she started with the same crap Lulu was giving me before. It still didn't make any sense. Why were they so reluctant to let me go? They were just boys, for crying out loud, and they saved my life!

She finally agreed, though, when I threatened to walk all the way there. (It's about a two hour drive to Tulsa, and it probably would've taken me all day, so she caved.) We didn't say much on the car ride, so I turned on the radio for something to listen to. I've never liked being totally alone with my own thoughts. It's unnerving.

We got to the hospital eventually, and when we asked the recieptionist where the boys from the Windrixville fire were, she got this real sad look. "Only family can see them."

"My daughter was in that fire," Ma told her, "She just wanted to thank them."

The lady shrugged. "The dark one's on the fourth floor. Room 409. The towheaded one is on the fifth floor, but I don't think he'll listen to you. He's been giving us a lot of trouble."

I remembered the tall, lean, mean-looking kid nearly trampling me to get to his friend and didn't doubt her. Not for a second. But either way, we thanked the lady and headed to the elevator.

"You sure you want to go through with this?" Ma asked. Her three reflections in the elevator walls looked even more nervous than the real thing.

"Why wouldn't I?"

"I don't know, maybe you thought through the whole criminal thing and --"

"Ma, they're injured and in the hospital. What can they do to me?"

She sighed as the floor came to a stop. The doors slid open and we took a step out. For a second, I was stunned. I mean, I've never been to town before, let alone a hospital. It was so huge. And white. I've never seen a place so white.

Anyway, I snapped out of it and Ma and I started looking for the right room. It was a little confusing; all the halls looked the same. Plus I was already a little dizzy from the brightness and that way-too-clean smell.

Finally we stumbled in front of room 409. The door was closed. I took a step toward the door when a doctor came up to us.

"Can I help you?" he asked, smiling too sweetly.

"We're here to see the boy from the Windrixville fire." Ma explained.

"Ah." the happy chirade fell. "Only family can see him. He's not doing so well."

My stomach clenched. Maybe Lulu had been wrong about that, too.

"Please." I took a step toward him. "He saved me. I just wanted to say thanks."

He looked at me kinda funny. I don't know what he was seeing, but I guess, whatever it was, it made him think about it. Maybe he saw how guilty I felt. Maybe he saw that 'no' has never stopped me before, and now's no different. Hell, maybe all he saw was a scared little girl wanting to get rid of this nightmare. At any rate, he shrugged. "Alright. But don't take too long; I don't want him to strain himself."

I nodded and smiled half heartedly, turning back to the door. I felt a little scared all the sudden. Would he want to see me? Would he listen?

Gritting my teeth, I turned the knob and walked inside.

**Okay, maybe I lied. This chapter isn't exactly long… but I was afraid if I didn't cut it off here, it'd be too long. So, hopefully the next chapter will be of sufficient size. **

**Please review, I love hearing from you guys!! :)**


	4. The Ghosts of Embers

For a second, I thought I was too late. He was just so still, the tubes and wires running through him making him look like a robot that wasn't quite finished.

Then he turned his head just slightly, and his black-eyed gaze locked onto mine. His brow furrowed in confusion.

"Johnny," The doctor came in behind me with another one of his fake smiles. "You have some visitors."

Well, duh, I wanted to shout at him, he's sick, but he ain't blind.

Oh, God -- what if he was? My stomach flipped.

Johnny didn't stay anything, still staring. I wonder if he was trying to figure out where he'd seen me. After all, he must not have been able to get a good look at any of us, being in a flaming, caving-in church and all. Unless he really was blind, and he was looking toward where he thought I was.

The doctor nodded to us and walked out.

"Honey," Mom whispered to me, "I'm gonna go downstairs and get a latte. You go ahead and thank him and… whatever."

"Sure." Go ahead, Ma. Put as much distance between my savior and yourself just because he made a few bad choices. You go right ahead.

She smiled tightly at me, then followed the doctor out. I watched the door click shut, staring at it for a second or two. I could still feel his eyes on me.

"So…" a breathy voice sounded behind me, so quiet I wasn't sure I'd really heard it, "Why are you here?"

I turned to him. He smiled slightly, trying to lighten the mood, but it looked more like a wince. "I-I…" I cleared my throat and tried again. "I just came by to thank you. For saving me."

"Ah." He closed his eyes, inhaling slowly. "Don't worry about it, kiddo. It wasn't a big deal."

"But it was," I insisted, "It was everything."

He stared at me again, confusion and curiosity lighting his eyes. We didn't say anything for a minute. I slowly let my gaze drift from his face to around the room; the white walls, the gleaming machines, the book on the table. I took a step toward it, and gasped.

"You were the ones living in the church?"

"Yeah. How'd you know?"

"Gone With The Wind," I said. "We found it with your stuff."

"Oh, yeah. My friend was reading it to me."

I bit my lip. "You aren't blind, are you?"

He started wheezing and I turned to make sure he was okay, but then I realized he was laughing. "Naw. I just can't read very well. I'm dumb."

"Oh." relief flooded through me. "What part are you at?"

"When them southern gentlemen ride off to certain death 'cause they're gallant."

I smiled. "I like that part."

"You read it?"

"My momma reads it to me at night, 'cause I can't sleep. I-I get scared." I couldn't believe I'd just told him that. But he was just so easy to talk to, it sort of… slipped. Know what I mean?

He didn't make fun of me or anything, just asked, "Why?"

I stared at my shoes. "I guess it's because it's so quiet. You can't see a thing and there's no one there. I just feel so… alone."

He looked at me thoughtfully. "Sit down, kid."

I obeyed, plopping down on a plastic chair by his bed. I felt really small, seeing how my feet barely touched the floor.

"What do you want to ask me?"

I frowned. "I wanted to thank you."

"No." He coughed a little. "You already did that. You want to _ask_ me something, I can tell."

I deflated; he was right. "Why? You didn't have to run in and save us. You coulda let us die. Why did you?"

Johnny turned away from me, looking up at the ceiling. His eyes looked so much different than the first time I saw him. Before, his eyes were bright and gleaming with a strange, fearless light. Now that light was gone, replaced by a half-hearted glow, like dying embers. No, like the ghosts of embers.

"I don't know if you'll understand."

"Try me."

"It's a long story. Plus I ain't good with words."

"Ma takes forever getting coffee."

He laughed quietly, but didn't say anything for along time. Eventually, he sighed. "I grew up on the wrong side-a town. My parents are drunks. They don't give a hang if I live or die, and they holler at me all the time for things I can't do nothin' about. The rain, the house, the neighbor's dog, this town. They made it seem like everything was my fault, and they hated me for it.

"Then my friend, Pony and I, we were walking home last week and got jumped by some Socs."

"Socs?" I asked.

"The social class. The rich kids." He explained. "They think they're better than us 'cause they got the cash, and they beat us up all the time for fun."

I kicked the chair instead of shouting so I wouldn't interrupt the story. Who'd want to hurt this boy?

"Anyway," he went on, "They started drowning Pony in the fountain, and these Socs, they'd hurt me before. I got scared and I… I accidentally killed one of 'em."

I froze. That's why he was a criminal. An accidental murder.

"I didn't know what to do. It was my fault this boy was dead, and there was nothing I could do. Pony and I ran away to Windrixville, cut our hair so we wouldn't be recognized. We stayed up there for five days, and the whole time, I felt so guilty. See, Pony ain't got parents, and his brothers do all they can to keep him on the right track. He's only fourteen. And I just got him into a huge mess, and again, there wasn't much I could do.

"Then a friend of ours, Dally, he came up to make sure we were doin' okay. He gave us money to keep us going, and gave us the hideout. He took us to lunch that afternoon."

I bit back a smile. Lulu was right; they _had_ gone out to lunch.

"When we got back, the church was on fire. Pony looked at me and said, 'I bet we started it'. I thought so, too. I mean, we smoked a lot in there, so maybe we didn't put a cigarette out all the way. Maybe it really was our fault. And… my whole life, people have told me that everything that went wrong in my life was because of something I did, and I could fix it. This time, I could. For once, I could make things better. And you and your friends…" I could see tears welling up in his eyes, and he fought to keep them back. "You and your friends got so much more to live for than me. You're going places. I've always known I'll be nothing but a greaser."

I didn't even think about it. I stood up, walked over to him and gave him a hug, careful not to hurt him or break the wires in him. But you know, sometimes people just need a hug, and right then, Johnny was one of them.

He stiffened for a second, then seemed to relax. "You're an okay kid."

I smiled, pulling away. "Thanks."

He nodded, understanding my double meaning.

"Um," I glanced at the door. "Where's your friend?"

"Pony got out okay. He came in earlier to say hi."

"Is he the one with the green eyes?"

"Yeah. Dally, the towhead, he's upstairs. Room 324. Why?"

"I wanted to thank them, too."

Johnny frowned slightly, but nodded. "Sure. But I don't know if Dally will listen to you."

I took a deep breath. "I'll probably come back down afterward. You know, 'cause Mom'll think I'm still here."

"Okay." He smiled at me. "Good luck."

**I know Johnny doesn't usually talk much, but I thought his little speech was important. Please review, sorry it took so long for the update! More to come relatively soon! :)**


	5. The Memory of Embers

Back in the brightness, I stumbled to the elevator and pressed 5. As the floor began to lift, my stomach flew up to my mouth. Golly, why was I so nervous today? They're just boys, they're hurt, they can't do anything to me!

Once I was back into the hallway, it took me a while to get to room 324. Like I said, all the halls look the same. But I figured it out when I turned down another hall and I heard yelling.

"Woman, don't you come _near _me with that needle!"

"Sir, we need to --"

"You don't gotta do _nothin'_, ya hear? Get out!"

"Sir, please --"

"GET OUT!"

I jumped as a tray full of dirty plates and a box of needles went flying out the open door and clanged harshly against the wall. A very disheveled looking nurse stumbled out, shaking her head. When she caught sight of me, she frowned. "You here to see him?" she stuck her thumb toward the room like a hitch hiker.

I nodded.

She sighed heavily and threw up her hands. "Well, girlie, good luck." And she walked off, shaking her head.

Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. . .

Oh, get a grip. I took a deep breath, getting my bearings, and walked into the room.

The towhead was sitting up in bed, jaw taut, arms crossed. One was bandaged, a bright red splotch appearing here and there. Again, I questioned myself. He looked so angry then.

He turned to me, and his pale blue eyes seemed to smolder. "And who in hell are you?"

I stood a little taller so I wouldn't shake. "Doesn't really matter, does it?"

He stared at me for a second. I wondered if he was seeing whatever the doctor or Johnny had seen before. Whatever it was, it made him smile a little. "Guess not."

I sighed, not exactly sure how to continue. "That arm… you gonna be okay?"

"You kiddin'? I've lived through worse."

I believed him.

He looked back to the window. The sunlight streaked his white-blonde hair with silver. For some reason he didn't look so scary then. I guess it was because without the shadows in his face, he looked less like a hood. He looked like someone Johnny could be friends with; someone who was strong and brave, but kind and gentle at the same time.

He turned back to me. "Was there something you needed, kid?"

"Yeah." I folded my hands behind my back, staring at my shoes.

"Well, spit it out, I ain't got all day."

I told myself not to correct him -- he was in the hospital, he wouldn't be going anywhere. Instead, I thanked him.

He didn't reply. I looked up to see him gawking at me. "What did you say?"

"Uh… thank you?"

He blinked. "For _what_?"

"For saving Johnny."

He stared incredulously for a second, then shook his head, going back to that tough-guy mask. "Why do you care?"

"Because it should've been me." I couldn't stop trembling now, and I realized I was crying. I hadn't cried since… since forever. I wiped angrily at my eyes. "It should've been me on that hospital bed. He didn't even know me, and he went in there and risked his life for me. He don't deserve that. He…"

"Hey, now, don't cry." He still sounded gruff and cold, but if you listened close enough, you could hear the tenderness beneath. "You couldn't help it."

"I know, but --"

"It don't do no good, dwellin' on the past. Didn't your old man ever tell you that?"

I sniffed. "Ain't got one."

He nodded. "Well, you remember that, okay? You can't change it, so why keep looking back? Your neck will just get sore after a while. You get tough like me, kid, and you won't have that problem. You don't let anything affect you, and you don't have any regrets."

I nodded. It made sense… but, could I live that way? Just not care?

"Did you, uh… did you talk to him?"

"Yup."

"How is he?"

I looked up. His eyes had softened a lot, and I knew he didn't live the way he said he did, either. He cared about Johnny. Maybe _just_ Johnny, but he still cared about _something_. "He… well, I dunno. He was looking pretty bad, but what do I know? I'm just a kid."

He gave a grim half smile and turned back to the window.

I stood there for a little while, not knowing what else to say. My eyes slid to the clock, and I figured Mom would be done with her coffee by now.

"You gotta get going?" I wondered if he could read minds, too.

"Yeah. I'll, uh, see you around."

He laughed. "I hope not."

-0-0-0-

We didn't get back home until late. Probably around nine. Mom didn't want to talk about the boys, and I didn't, either. I had a lot on my mind; hoping they would be okay, wondering what they were gonna do when they got out of the hospital, wondering where the third boy was. But I was glad I'd gone and talked to them, glad I'd got to see a little of what they were really like.

When I woke up the next morning, Mom was reading the newspaper. She told me Johnny had died in the night, and I bit my tongue to stop the tears. He didn't deserve it. Not him.

I still think about them a lot, even now. I think about what they said, the sound of their laughs, the way the shadows played on their faces. But most of all I remember their eyes. Johnny's deep, endless black eyes, still flickering feebly, and Dally's hard, ice blue glare, the edges starting to melt. Sometimes the whole thing feels like a dream, but when I remember their eyes, what I saw in their faces, I know they were as real as the embers flying around us in the church. They were as human as me and Lulu and Joey and Ricky.

I know not many people think too highly of criminals or "greasers", but that's because they haven't taken the time to look. Who knows -- maybe you'll find a Johnny or a Dally if you keep your eyes open. Just remember that they may look so hard and cold they're unreal, but on the inside, they're just as real as you and me, with a heart like ours that burns like fire.

**Hope you liked it… I'm never good with endings, so I'm really hoping that wasn't too bad. Please review!**

**--thelastOpenDoor.**


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